


When One Door Closes

by PolkaDotDragon



Series: Elijah’s Fandom Traveling Adventures [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries & Related Fandoms, The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: BAMF Ginny Weasley, Bisexual Elijah Mikaelson, Consent is Sexy, Gay Harry Potter, Harry and Ginny as BFFs, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Part of my quest to pair Elijah with many characters, Past Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, This got deeper than I was planning, coming to terms with your sexuality
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-18 19:33:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20644499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PolkaDotDragon/pseuds/PolkaDotDragon
Summary: To the bafflement of their friends and family, Harry and Ginny remain best friends after the divorce. And Ginny is determined to get Harry a man. When Ginny drags him to a new bar, he meets handsome and mysterious Elijah.





	When One Door Closes

**Author's Note:**

> This is dedicated to Lin who asked for a slash TVD/HP crossover and Nyx666 who was very enthusiastic about Harry/Elijah. This is for you :)

All was quiet. The only light was a sliver of the moon shining into the room from a gap in the curtains. Harry and Ginny laid on their bed, curled into each other and holding hands. The moonlight reflected off their two rings. It should have been a happy scene.

Ginny was smiling as she spoke, but it didn’t stop the words from stabbing Harry in the chest.

“This isn’t working, Harry.”

He closed his eyes, but Harry knew her words were true. No matter how much he didn’t want to face it.

“I know.” Harry felt wrecked.

He tried to turn his head but his wife wouldn’t let him. She held his chin in her hand and Harry could feel the calluses there.

“Harry, stop that.”

They had won the war. Voldemort had been defeated. As the wizard it work recovered, the Golden Trio and friends had worked hard to get their dream jobs. Harry and Ron had been accepted right into the auror training program. Hermoine took a minor position in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and promptly proceeded to rip it to shreds and re-build it. The rest of the department still looked shell-shocked and no appeared to be quite sure how she had done it. Ginny took the Quidditch world by storm as lead chaser in the Hollyhead Harpies.Through all this Ginny and Harry had continued to date and support each other. When Harry came back exhausted from a case, Ginny would distract him with silly tales from the Quidditch courts. When she came back from practice exhausted and scrapped up, Harry would patch her up and make her favorite dish. All their friends had joked they were already married. And so Harry did what seemed to be the next logical step and had proposed. Their wedding had been four months ago. And for a little while it seemed like it was ok. They both went to work. They split up the chores, Harry taking over the cooking and Ginny the cleaning. Harry made a habit of going to the store on Thursdays, getting the groceries and picking up Ginny’s favorite peach-scented shampoo. Ginny would bring him home chocolate on Fridays. It was supposed to be their happy ending. After everything they went through in the war, didn’t they deserve a happy ending?

“I love you.” Even as he said it, Harry knew it wasn’t enough. He felt himself tearing up.

“Harry” Ginny kissed him on the forehead. “I know you do. Just not the way I need you to.”

“I can change.” His voice was broken and Ginny felt her heart break all over again hearing it.

“No, Harry. And you shouldn’t have to.” Ginny took his face in her hands. “You are a wonderful man. The best man I have ever known. I don’t want you to change.” Her red hair was soft he reached out. It still smelled like peaches. “You’re gay, Harry. And that’s ok.”

“Ginny.” Harry was crying in earnest. “I don’t want to lose you.” She punched his arm. “Hey!”

“Don’t be an idiot, Harry James Potter! You will never lose me! I love you. Always have and always will.” Their hands found each other again. Harry couldn’t imagine his life without Ginny in it. “But this isn’t good for either of us. I won’t move out, not yet. But I’m gonna sleep in the guest room from tomorrow on. And it’s time we get a divorce.” Ginny’s voice had started out strong, but now she was crying too.

Within seconds they were in each other’s arms, both bawling their eyes out. And that was how they fell asleep.

The next morning they filed the paperwork.

* * *

Four months later Ginny arrived in fury, the door crashing in a loud smack as she threw it open.

“Harry James Potter!” He was under the covers on the bed. A giant lazy lump. “Enough of your moping! Get up!” A whip of her wand and Harry was yanked off the bed and thrown on the floor.

“Ginny what the hell?” Harry squinted from the floor. She graciously floated him his glasses.

“We didn’t get divorced so you could brood!” Ginny put her hands on her hips, unintentionally imitating her mother. Ginny was wearing a cute black dress and heels. That probably didn’t bode well for Harry.

”Ginny!”

Friends and family of the former couple were baffled at their behavior. When Harry and Ginny had announced their divorce, the others expected to hear about a fight or see the two avoid each other. But they continued to spend most of their time together. They even still lived together. Molly was known to bemoan “this silly break-up phase” and kept asking when they were going to get back together. No one seemed to believe them when Ginny and Harry said it wasn’t going to happen. Harry was working up the courage to come out, but he wasn’t quite there yet. He knew they loved him, but years of the Dursley’s insults had given him insecurities he still struggled with. Ginny encouraged him and had his back, as she always had.

Ginny marched over to the closet and started rifling trough. “We’re going out! I found a good bar on the other side of London.”

“Ginny.” Harry seemed to think if he kept repeating her name it would get him somewhere.

“Harry.” Ginny spun around and pierced him with her glare. “We are getting you a date if it’s the last thing I do.”

Harry threw himself back on the bed that used to be theirs. “I don’t want a date.” His voice was muffled by the pillow he has smushed his face into.

“Too bad. Do you know how Ron and Hermione have been looking at me since I went on a date with that nice muggle bloke?”

Harry quickly sat back up. “What? Have they been giving you trouble?”

“Just nasty looks. Hermione’s pretty distracted with her talks with the new vampires society. And they’re not nearly as bad as everyone else. It seems the populace isn’t pleased with me for ‘breaking their savior’s heart.’” Ginny rolled her eyes. “If you tell them you’re dating too, they’ll calm down. You don’t have to say what gender you’re dating if you’re not comfortable yet.”

Harry groaned, but began changing when she threw the clothes she picked out at him. “How was your second date, by the way?” She had tossed him one of his nicer dress shirts and slacks. Where exactly were they going?

“Eh it was ok. I don’t think it’ll last.” Ginny pursed her lips. “He remind me too much of Malloy, honestly” A scary glint comes to her eye. “Maybe I should set you up with him! After all, Malfoy is your type isn’t he?”

“Ginny!” She cackled. “I do not fancy Malfoy!”

“You were obsessed with him in school. Always watching him. And you can’t deny the best sex we ever has was right after you were arguing with him. That can’t be a coincidence.”

Harry buried his face in his hands, but Ginny could still see his flush across his neck. “Please stop talking.”

“C’mon. Let’s see if we can find you a not-at-all-like Malfoy bloke of your own.”

* * *

Manetta’s was a beautiful bar in Mayfair. Tucked away beneath the Flemings Hotel, it managed to be both cozy and lively. Harry peered around as he and Ginny entered, noting the nice red velvet and black leather. Portraits lined the wall and Harry wondered who they were. The gold accents gave the place a fancy look and as he glanced around, he could tell it was a fairly upscale place. While they ordered their drinks, Ginny quickly began pointing out men around the place. When Ginny pointed out the third man with platinum blonde hair, Harry knew he had to stop her.

“Ginny enough.” Harry was blushing again. “I don’t actually find blonde hair a turn on.”

“Hmph. Fine. But you’re not getting out of here without at least trying. Who do you think is your type?”

Harry scanned the room, desperately trying to find someone so Ginny would give him a break. When he spotted the man at the other end of the bar, Harry couldn’t help the instinctive flush. Oh.

The man was gorgeous. Dark hair slightly falling over his forehead. A square jaw and a dimpled chin with a light amount of stubble and pretty pink lips. Wide shoulders and even though the suit, Harry could tell the man was muscled. The man took a drink and his Adam‘s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Well I’m definitely gay.”

Ginny nearly spit out her drink, but quickly followed her ex’s gaze. “Oh wow.”

“Yeah.” Harry suddenly realized he was still staring and focused back on his glass. He glanced back up at Ginny and smirked. “And he looks nothing like Malfoy. So there.”

“Well… they both have the fancy posh look. Maybe that’s your type.” She let out a small laugh. “Kinda ironic that you have a thing for rich men considering how much you try and ignore your own fortune.”

“Giiinny” Harry whined.

“Well go on then.” Ginny pushed him off his chair. “Go and talk to him.”

Harry turned wide eyes on her. “How?”

* * *

Elijah had been alive for thousands of years and survived countless assassination attempts. The instant he felt a gaze settle on him, he was alert. He tipped his glass back and glanced to the side out from under his eyelashes. There. A boy was looking at him from about seven seats down the bar. Elijah took in all he could in a second and a thousand thoughts ran through his head. The boy was young, maybe 20 years old. Messy dark hair, an odd scar, and striking green eyes almost hidden behind a pair of round glasses. He looked a little flushed and nervous. Perhaps he’d never assassinated anyone before? But who would send an amateur after _Elijah_? He asked the bartender for another scotch and focused his hearing towards the boy. He could still feel the gaze of the young man.

“Well I’m definitely gay.”

_Oh_.

Well then. Elijah readjusted the cuffs of his dress shirt. Elijah was attractive, he knew this. Yet after hundreds of years of traveling with Niklaus and having men and women fawning over his brother, Elijah was rather used to being the one overlooked. He glanced back over at the green-eyed boy, continuing to listen in on his conversation with his female companion. The boy had a rather adorable flush as his friend teased him. Elijah had spent the past decades alternating between managing his usual duties in the supernatural world and looking for his siblings. He hadn’t taken the time for any… physical release in a long time. Elijah looked up and down the messy haired boy again. An attractive young man.

“Go and talk to him” he overheard.

“How?” Elijah hid a smile in another swallow of scotch. A shy one. That was appealing. Elijah liked confidence, but it often became arrogance which he found off-putting (which he was self-aware enough to realize was probably hypocritical). Elijah leaned back and considered his options. The boy was cute. And Elijah could use something nice in his life. Even if it was only one night. He set his glass down.

* * *

Harry’s only warning was Ginny’s gasp, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Spinning around, he found himself face-to-face with the fit man he had been ogling.

“I couldn’t help but notice you looking at me.” Harry wanted to die. But the man was smiling. “I’m Elijah.” The man, no, Elijah, held out his hand.

Harry just stared at it for a second until Ginny elbowed him. “H-Harry” he stuttered out as he took Elijah’s hand. But the man didn’t go for a shake like Harry expected. Instead, as Harry’s blush grew to epic proportions, Elijah lifted Harry’s hand to his lips and kissed it, his eyes never leaving Harry’s.

“A pleasure.” _Merlin_, Harry thought. _Were_ _men_ _like_ _this_ _even_ _real?_

“Yeah, uh, pleasure to meet you.”

“I’m Ginny” his ex-wife butted in, standing up and shaking Elijah’s hand. He didn’t kiss _her_ hand, Harry quickly noted.

“Elijah. A pleasure to meet you as well.” This time the word pleasure entirely lacked the connotations the man had managed to put on it before. Elijah gestured at their seats. “Please, sit back down.” He took the chair next to Harry. “Is this your first time in Manetta’s?”

Harry pulled on some of his Gryffindor courage. “Yeah. It seems like a nice place.”

“I used to come here quite a bit many years ago, but I hadn’t been back in a while. They’ve changed some things, of course, but the atmosphere remains the same.” Harry wondered at Elijah’s age. If it had been many years since he was drinking here, he must be closer to mid-to-late twenties than early.

“Uh, yeah. I like it too. Classy.” Merlin, why couldn’t he keep his cool. He was sure his blush hadn’t gone away yet either. But despite his nervousness, Harry was a bit chuffed. His first night out and he already had one attractive man interested in him.

“Well, I’ll be by the lounge if you need me,” Ginny interjected. “I think I see someone I know.” She was facing Harry with her back to Elijah, and her wink told Harry her saying that was only an excuse.

“Oh. Ok. Have fun, Gin.”

“You too!” Ginny called back as she sauntered away. She was clearly having way too much fun with this.

Harry turned back to Elijah. “So where are you from? I can’t place your accent.”

The man smiled. “Oh all over. My family has moved around a lot.”

Harry found himself getting more and more comfortable as their conversation continued. Elijah was easy to talk to and they were soon jumping between all sorts of conversations. But beneath it all was an undercurrent of excitement. His dates with Cho and Ginny had never felt like this. Harry learned that Elijah was a historian who often traveled for his work, and he was staying in the hotel above the bar. Harry told Elijah he was a police detective (as it was the closest muggle equivalent) and Elijah seemed suitably impressed. “A man of service,” Elijah had remarked.

Harry hadn’t even realized hours had passed until he noticed the clock on the far wall read 0100. “Oh, it’s late. I should probably go.” He should, but Harry didn’t really want to. Elijah was captivating. 

Elijah glanced back at the clock, but quickly refocused his eyes on Harry, taking one of the younger man’s hands in his. “Forgive me if I am too forward, but I would quite enjoy it if you came back to my suite with me.”

“Oh” Harry’s blush, which had finally faded some hours ago, returned in full force. Was this moving too fast? He knew a lot of his friends had one night shags, but all of Harry’s experience was with Ginny. And that hadn’t exactly turned out well, sexually.

Elijah seemed to take his lack of response as an answer, releasing his hand and stepping back, moving his hands to his pockets. His face was downcast. “My apologies. I’ve made you uncomfortable.”

“No!” Harry meant to reach out, but stopped himself halfway, his hand dangling awkwardly in between them. “I just, uh, I don’t really have much experience with this. With men.” He clarified.

“But you are interested?” A slight smirk had returned to Elijah’s face.

“Yeah” He did want to do this, Harry realized. He wanted to know what shagging was like with a man. And Elijah seemed like a good choice to learn with.

“I can be gentle,” the other man assured, kissing Harry’s hand again.

Harry licked his lips. “What if I don’t want gentle?”

Elijah looked up, his lips still hovering above Harry’s skin. There was a darkness in his eyes that Harry should probably find worrying. But Harry was too far gone for that now. “That could be arranged.”

“Ok.” Harry swallowed. “Yeah, let’s, uh, go.” He looked across the room and caught Ginny’s eye. He gestured to the door with his head. Ginny gave him two thumbs up. Harry couldn’t help but laugh. Ginny was really too good to him.

* * *

Elijah still had Harry’s hand in his, and led him from the bar and into the hotel proper. As the walked through the lobby, Harry wondered what it would be like to kiss Elijah. He had noticed that the man was very precise with him movements. A person who had total control over his body. Probably trained in some kind of fighting. Harry would be a poor auror if he couldn’t tell that. But in these circumstances Harry was just turned on by the thought. He liked athletic bodies and he was already fantasizing on how Elijah could use that strength.

The two men entered the elevator and as the doors shut Harry mused that it felt like metaphor. He was closing the door on his old life. Truly accepting what he wanted. His fingers were still tangled with Elijah’s, and Harry gave them an extra squeeze.

“Nervous?” Elijah asked, looking down at Harry. Elijah was taller than the average man and Harry was fairly short.

“A little” Harry admitted. “But it’s a good sort of nervous?”

“If you want to stop at any point, just say so. Don’t ever feel as if you must keep going or do everything I suggest.” Heh, Harry had pegged him right. Elijah was a gentleman.

“If I want to stop, I’ll say so.” They had arrived at Elijah’s floor.

As they stepped through into Elijah’s suite of rooms (the man must be loaded, Harry thought as he looked around), Harry felt butterflies in his stomach.

Elijah pulled Harry in close, raising his other hand up to the younger man’s cheek. “May I?”

“Yeah” Harry said, breathless.

Elijah’s lips pressed against his, gentle at first, before moving with more force. His stubble scratched against Harry, and the wizard found he liked it. Elijah’s hand slid from his cheek to the back of neck, holding Harry against him as he deepened the kiss, their tongues sliding against each other. Harry had never had a kiss like this. The only way we could describe his previous kisses was ‘wet’. And while their slavia was certainly invloved in this kiss, it was unlike anything he’d experienced before. Harry felt like he was on fire.

When they separated they were both panting. Harry was pressed close enough to feel exactly how worked up both of them were. Elijah moved his mouth to Harry’s jaw, slowly leaving a trail of kisses down the younger man’s neck. Harry groaned in pleasure and leaned back to give him better access. About mid-throat, Elijah added teeth, pulling Harry’s skin between his lips. Merlin, Harry was so into this.

“Shall we move this to the bedroom?” Elijah’s voice was gravely and he was breathing heavily. Harry felt pleased to see the effect he had on the older man.

“Yeah” Harry responded, breathing just as hard.

He grabbed the front of Elijah’s suit jacket with both fists.

“Let’s go.”

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly have no idea how my plan for a quick and short Harry-picks-Elijah-up-in-a-bar-plotbunny turned into this. Suddenly Ginny wanted to be involved and I wrote a whole deep thing about Harry realizing he’s gay after he’s already married Ginny. But I didnt really want too much angst so Ginny is totally awesome about it. Also because I like seeing more male-female friendships in fan fiction :) But this was totally not what I intended when I first sat down to write this. I also did not plan on spending the past 6 hours writing this... Oh well.
> 
> Also, I based some off this off of personal experience of realizing my own asexualty while dating my long term boyfriend. It was difficult and led to us breaking up, but it was an amicable break-up. But as I am not gay myself, if you think I’ve portrayed anything wrong, please let me know.
> 
> Also I just wanted to say: While Harry is nervous about telling his friends and family about being gay, they will (spoiler) all be totally cool with it. Harry is angsting, but I wanted to let you know that nothing bad is actually going to happen there. Because this can be my beautiful fiction world where no one gets shit for their sexuality. Harry might have some difficulty with the press or random people in the Wizarding world, but as a whole, I want Harry to be happy and accepted <3
> 
> I’m thinking about actually trying to write Harry and Elijah’s sex scene for next chapter? But I’ver never written smut before so I’m a little nervous. Would you guys want me to try?
> 
> Also, Manetta’s is totally a real place in London. I looked up posh bars and this sounded like a place Elijah would go. In the thirties it used to be a common place for writers and artists to gather. And yes, that is totally when Elijah frequented the place :P I’m not sure if it has an elevator, but it does in my fiction world regardless xD
> 
> I’d loved to hear what you all think! Feedback makes me happy :)


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